We performed a comparison between Azure Network Watcher and Meraki Dashboard based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall. It is helpful for securing databases."
"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."
"It provides good visibility."
"The most valuable features I have found are typology, visualization, and capture."
"I like the visibility."
"What I like most about Azure Network Watcher is that it's focused more on the architecture. I also like that it has a packet capture feature that tells you how the packet travels and whether it's exiting Azure, etc."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is using the gateways with the connections. The monitoring is useful for the logs and application insights into the data. The traffic filtering issues when it comes to deploying those applications are helpful."
"We use the solution to monitor network services. It helps to capture any network issues."
"We have found the client dashboard to be very simple to use, especially in our Meraki environment."
"It is a reliable product. It provides a lot of information that is easy to read."
"The product can scale if you need it to."
"It's a scalable solution."
"The hardware of Meraki is very good quality."
"It is very easy to manage. It has good security, and it is working well with our firewall."
"It's a simple, functional solution."
"An excellent dashboard that is currently unique in covering both SD-WAN and SD-LAN with built-in security."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"I still use Wireshark and Azure Network Watcher to get the required data. My team captures the traffic from Azure Network Watcher, downloads it, then imports that traffic into Wireshark to get more details on the number of hits and replies, for example. If you can do that on Azure Network Watcher and have Wireshark built-in, that would make Azure Network Watcher better. If Azure Network Watcher has that functionality where you won't need a third-party tool to get what you need, that would be helpful. I'm also expecting more from Azure Network Watcher. It's more complex than knowing how the IP flows from its source to the destination. The tool also needs more open-source features, such as having some built-in Wireshark that improves monitoring for customers. Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging. Is it one hundred percent an Azure issue? Is it a peer issue? You don't get complete information from Azure Network Watcher, so you must use other tools and depend on your strategies to resolve a specific issue. If more features could be added in the next release of Azure Network Watcher, specifically ones you can find on open-source tools, then that would be a plus point for the tool."
"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."
"Lacks sufficient security features."
"I would like to see in the future if we can troubleshoot as a firewall because it is equipment as a network player and some diagnostics."
"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications. For example, an application to log activities for in and outbound traffic."
"The solution could improve by limiting the need to clarify the logs. When the clarification is minimized, it is better for everyone involved."
"The initial setup and deployment could be improved to be simplified."
"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."
"There needs to be more improvement on the device-connected interface."
"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."
"What we would like from the IT perspective is a lot more granular control, more visibility into the packets, into the routing, and things of that nature."
"Price could be reduced."
"The product is missing a VPN and it is a major issue when it comes to deployment."
"It's a very complex system. Customers have told me that sometimes there are lots of advanced features that are available and that you can change in the dashboard, but sometimes it's very hard to know what they are."
"The tool needs to incorporate more integration platforms. Integrating technical support features directly into the dashboard would be highly beneficial. This would allow technicians to troubleshoot issues more efficiently."
"Meraki lacks their own software for connecting to the VPN which creates some issues."
Azure Network Watcher is ranked 34th in Network Monitoring Software with 9 reviews while Meraki Dashboard is ranked 9th in Network Monitoring Software with 51 reviews. Azure Network Watcher is rated 7.8, while Meraki Dashboard is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Azure Network Watcher writes "Helpful database security, good support, and beneficial cloud-native application firewall". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Meraki Dashboard writes "Incredibly easy to use, great troubleshooting and prevention of malicious events". Azure Network Watcher is most compared with Microsoft Network Monitor, Nmap, PRTG Network Monitor, SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and SolarWinds NPM, whereas Meraki Dashboard is most compared with SolarWinds NPM, ThousandEyes, Cisco DNA Center, Mist AI and Cloud and Zabbix. See our Azure Network Watcher vs. Meraki Dashboard report.
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We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
